There are some great tips here, including using egg beaters or even just the whites of the egg whites in scrambled eggs. I recently discovered turkey bacon - YUMMY. I made a grilled steak with jalapenos and cream cheese wrapped in bacon last night for dinner, my son couldn't even tell it had turkey bacon instead of the regular fat and sodium loaded hickory smoked bacon I usually use.

If you are just starting on your journey of eating healthier, just take it one step at a time. Pay attention to serving sizes first and get that down. If you are like most people, your usual serving size is probably 1-1/2 to 2 times the recommended size. After you get that down and get used to eating smaller portions (you'll be amazed at the results of just this), then focus on changing how you prepare your food and what you eat, swapping out 1 or 2 a day with healthy versions and just increase that every week.

As far as pasta and breads, concentrate on what you put on those things. Some sauces can be LOADED with fat and calories (and sodium) that are not needed. I recently discovered how much sodium is in some of my favorite pasta sides I've been making for years. I've been cutting back to just a half serving lately since a full serving is just too much food for me along with the main part of the meal and a salad or other veggies on the side. I started doing 1 ounce (a serving is 2 ounces dry) of angel hair pasta and toss with some butter (I use Brummel and Brown spread but just 1/2 TBSP) or a drizzle of olive oil with some fresh pressed garlic and/or Italian herbs. This is just as yummy as the box mixes but MUCH healthier. As above, just make small changes, a few at at time, to your existing diet.

You will be surprised with yourself. Once you make these changes and eat healthier for a while, you won't like the taste of those other things you used to think you couldn't live without! I haven't had Velvetta Shells and Cheese (used to LOVE it) in a REALLY long time as I've been eating healthier sides. My daughter wanted some with some burgers I made the other night for dinner. I was surprised by the sodium, and it didn't fit into my meal plan for the day, so I planned on having something else, but she still made it for her and my son. I did have the room on my meal plan for a spoon full (just a fraction of a serving - I think I figured 1/16 of a serving), and it was just too salty to me and not nearly as good as I remembered it being. After that, I didn't feel like I was depriving myself.

In one of my wellness classes we made french toast using eggbeaters and wholegrain bread, but for the topping we used the greek yogurt with some fresh slices of strawberries. I am not a greek yogurt fan but this was really good and it was so much healthier than the syrup. it is also a meal you can eat at any time - even supper.

I love my breakfast food! A hint for french toast is to add extracts like vanilla and almond to your eggs and maybe some cinnamon or allspice. It gives the toast a great flavor without needing syrup. Or you can heat up a little bit of sugar free jam and have "fruit syrup" for only a few extra calories. I fry my eggs with a little spray of butter flavored cooking spray and add fresh ground pepper and freeze dried chives for a really yummy flavor. Of course I am spoiled rotten by having fresh eggs. So much more flavor than the ones you get at the store. For bacon, you could try those fake bacon bits. They aren't too bad mixed in with eggs. Ham is available in some pretty lean cuts or you can get canadian bacon. Now for your pasta fix, have you tried spaghetti squash? Lot fewer calories!

I know how much you love your breakfast add ons. I know I do. We make it a habit to only have one add on a week. So on Saturday or Sunday we make either bacon or sausage and we only cook what the package deems as serving for each person. No left overs no over eating. Pasta you can always buy the new single serve packages add a salad and veggies and your plate would be full. If not measure out everyones' serving from the package after you cook it. If it is a serving for 6 and you have 4 that makes two more lunches for the next day. For french toast I use the low cal bread and us the servings it says per meal. I scramble my eggs without milk and dip my bread in then I put them on the pan I sprayed with Pam or a misto that is full of olive oil ( I prefer this method best). Measure out your syrup and you've eaten healthy.

Massachusetts If you can't change your circumstances, change the way you look at them.

there is also Turkey bacon and sausage available. A lot of the time when mixed with other items you can not taste the difference. Portion size is going to be the biggest helper for you. If you want that slice of bacon or sausage have just one/two instead of like I used to do the 3-5 slices.

thanks guys and the other foods? that i mentioned i do love bacon and sausage and breakfast ham so im trying to find other ways to make healthy foods with the ones i love and helping my family keep good food but get them into good habits at same time?

Did you know you can make omelets without even having the egg touch the pan? You actually put all of the ingedients into a baggie. You can use 2 eggs or eggwhite/eggbeaters and then all of the veggies and meat that you like. boil water in a large pot and then put in the baggie. You can put up to 8 baggies at a time. Let it cook for 10-13 minutes depending on how many baggies you are doing at a time. I have done this while camping and it was a much faster way to let everyone get the omlet they wanted without me having to spend so much time.

I make fried eggs just using a little spray like Pam and scrambled are usually eggbeaters. I add lots of veggies (whatever I happen to have on hand - mushrooms, peppers, onoins, tomatoes) to my scrambled eggs and a little reducd fat cheese.

I am a breakfast junky along with fried foods I have however learned to eat only one fried or two fried meals a week but I am trying to write foods to eat and find what is better i make scrambled eggs with milk butter and a couple like drips of oil i make fried with bacon dripping or sausage so can someone tell me healthy alternative that give about same outcome please i dont like the idea of giving of my breakfast loves!!! I also love pasta foods another big problem need alternatives there, and high starch foods potato all ways , breads etc. i know these are my problems to continued weight gain but i need alternative to make them better for me so I dont have to get them out of my diet. I am really a country cook so food change is very hard and new to me please if have web sights or info or something to help me keep the foods i love and get diff ways to make would be great

SparkPeople, SparkCoach, SparkPages, SparkPoints, SparkDiet, SparkAmerica, SparkRecipes, DailySpark, and other marks are trademarks of SparkPeople, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this website can be used without the permission of SparkPeople or its authorized affiliates.
SPARKPEOPLE is a registered trademark of SparkPeople, Inc. in the United States, European Union, Canada, and Australia. All rights reserved.

NOTE: Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy last updated on October 25, 2013